strings of life

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Happiness

Valerie is feeling happy :)

LeVaire :: 1:04 AM

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Holidays

Hey, it's been awhile. Or shall I say, a very long while. Whoever said that university life is a bed of roses ought to be shot, for it certainly was the exact opposite. The finals are over, I'm about halfway through my holidays and enjoying it thus far.

The holidays give one an ample amount of free time that never was before found during term time (like DUH, what am I talking about). But anyway, this ample amount of free time allows one the opportunity to explore things that have been previously undone, or in very small amounts. The holidays have made me strangely domestic. Or maybe it's just today and my oddly melancholic mood.

I went to the Esplanade this late afternoon to meet up with Kenneth, Marcus, Em and Florence. And I managed to catch SMU Chamber Choir's performance at the Concourse. Christmas carols. It was wonderful.

Then I went home after awhile, but not before dropping by the supermarket. There was no one at home, meaning there's no dinner at home. And today, I had the oddest urge to cook. Yes, oddest urge because I do not cook. I find cooking a hassle and a big waste of time. Many hours of preparation put into cooking just that meal. But, like I said, it's the holidays and I have lots of time on my hands. So I went to the supermarket and bought a dory fish fillet, and two tubs of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I was feeling melancholic, needed comfort food and Ben & Jerry's is definitely great comfort food =)

So I got home, put on some Christmas music, blasted it through the living room and got busy in the kitchen with my dinner preparation. I absolutely love to stay at home when there's no one around. It's all peace and quiet and very serene.

After I cooked my fish, I settled down in front of the television and began to watch "City of Angels". I'd purchased its DVD yesterday. By the way, it's an awesome movie, go watch it if you can.

And, Christmas is coming =)

LeVaire :: 10:48 PM

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Thanksgiving

Amidst the insanity and busy-ness of university life, going for LM (Life Meeting) has never failed to make me feel better. Today was the last LM for this semester, aptly titled 'Thanksgiving', where we all come together to give our thanks to God as our final exams roll near and the semester comes to a close.

Today, as all the different people in Campus Crusade for Christ step up to give their testimonies and personal thanks to God, I felt very encouraged. I had stepped into university with all the comforting tales about how life is going to be much smoother than the mad rush in Junior College. But I couldn't be more wrong. If anything, life in university is a madder rush than that in JC. But I shall not elaborate on that. Today, is about thanksgiving.

I want to thank God for all the wonderful testimonies shared by our friends today because they gave me hope when life seemed so bleak. I have been failing my CAs left, right, centre, up and down, and unlike JC, everything in uni counts towards your CAP (Cumulative Average Point). So it's like a little 10% here, a little 20% there, but if you keep failing these little 10-20%, you will get a grand total of... not very much. And it doesn't help much that everyone else seems to be doing so much more better than yourself. There were days when even smiling seemed like such a chore. I just couldn't find a reason to smile and there was really nothing to be happy about. And naturally, I didn't feel like talking very much. There was nothing to say anyway. So, sorry to my friends if I'd seem very fierce or moody these past few days.

I want to thank God for the new friend I made today and knowing that I'm not alone. And also to all my friends who have been encouraging me, thanks.

Thank you God, for reminding me once again, that You are in control of everything. I'm just gonna do my part and study hard. Keep up my faith and trust in You. Finals are in less than 3 weeks.

Bah, talking about my grades makes me feel all depressed again -.- shoot.

But, I will not give up trusting in God, for He promises that He will make all things beautiful in His time.
~Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him
and He will make your paths straight.~
-Proverbs 3:5-6

LeVaire :: 10:09 PM

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Time doesn't devour memories: It just slowly, painfully converts it into fragments of a dream. Occasionally, something will spark the wrath of the dream, and the dream will alter into a memory again.

-Low Kay Hwa

LeVaire :: 10:09 PM

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Random Segregation- I mean- Random Musings

Science is messing up with my head. I was pretty stunned that the first thing that came into my head when I was talking to a friend about certain issues when she said "I think it's U" was that U = uracil. And that fact that when my friends and I wanna change our seats in the LT, we go like "Heyy, please move one codon downstream, thank you!". Uh huh, and we must be the weirdest looking ribosomes on earth. Science is messing up with my head all right.

On a brighter note, tomorrow is a... FRIDAY!! And I absolutely adore Friday to bits! (Nono, not the Friday from Robinson Crusoe, and certainly not the Friday in my EC1301 lecture notes. Oh no, no more fish and coconuts please) Even though I start school at 10am tomorrow and only end at 7pm *grumbles*... It's still a FRIDAY! And Friday ushers in the weekends. And weekends are what I live for man. My little bit of sanity in this whole week of insanity.

Then again, maybe not, seeing as to how I have 2 upcoming tests and a report due. Sigh.

So anyway, last Saturday (11 Oct 2008) was 06S305 class gathering! It was good to see all of them again. And Sharaf, looking stylish as ever! Here are some photos:

LeVaire :: 2:18 PM

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The War of E. Coli, Agar Plates and Pipette Tips

Nope, World War III did not occur in my Life Sciences Lab. LOL. But we certainly had a good laugh yesterday. And the perpetuator of it all: Xiu Xian!

After Organic Chemistry lecture, we (Xiu Xian, Chen En, Philip, Poh and I) all trooped to the Frontier (Science Canteen) to have lunch. Philip then had to leave first cos he has Chem tutorial at 1pm, so he left his empty plate on the table and we would clear it for him later. When the rest of us has finally finished eating and all, we stood to return our trays to the collection point. Then Xiu Xian looked at Philip's plate and saw this mass of coagulated rice cos Philip had been playing with the leftover remnants of his chicken rice -.- So it was like, ewww and Xiu Xian was so grossed out she went "Why he leave this kind of thing here?! I'll throw AGAR PLATES at him later!!"

(Note: Agar plates are used to grow bacteria in labs)

The rest of us were so stunned by her statement that for a split-second there was pure silence, before all hell broke loose and we proceeded to laugh ourselves to death. OH MAN! It was SO HILARIOUS!! I was doubled over in my seat, wiping at the tears in my eyes as I laughed and laughed!! And Poh's laughter was seriously FUNNY! And I started laughing at his laughter as well!

Then I began thinking how we could have other types of 'weapons' as well in the lab, like maybe pipettes or something. And Poh said "Yeah! We could shoot pipette tips!" The absurdity of that idea sank into my head and all hell broke loose for the second time as we all cracked up in laughter again. Shoot pipette tips?!?! HAHAHAHA!!

(Note: Micropipettes are commonly used in science labs to draw up a very tiny amount of substance, usually in microlitres. And after use, you need to eject the pipette tip and throw it away)

Needless to mention, Lab that day was absolutely hilarious. It was like we all lost our minds or something. Poh and I just kept referring to pipette tips as 'ammunition' now and we just kept laughing and going HIGH. It was crazy. And here are some pictures of lab!

LeVaire :: 3:22 PM

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Death

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
the carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
-First stanza, The Chariot by Emily Dickinson

The concept of death is so foreign to many of us. Even right at this moment, my mind cannot seem to grasp the idea of Death occuring to any of my loved ones. I was devastated when my great-grandmother passed away earlier this year and I remember clearly, how I stood by her coffin on the last day of the ceremony and I tried to the best of my ability to memorise her face, her looks, before they took her away to be cremated.

I was just reading the blog of a girl, whose loved one was taken away by Death. And her words hit me. They hit me hard. I was in tears in mere minutes. And it made me think. Like I said, I am unable to accept the fact that one fine day, Death will come and take my loved ones away. So I started thinking. What if, one day, the person lying in the coffin were my grandparents...? And one day, what if, the person lying in the coffin were my parents...?

And I find that I still am unable to accept it.

Unfortunately, Death is all too real.

And Death will come, one fine day, whether you like it or not. Death will come.

For a very long time, I pushed all these thoughts away. I kept thinking "Aiya, let's not think about it now... They're all still well and alive..." But of course, there's nothing we can do to stop death. Sure, science, technology and medicine has certainly prolonged our lives, but death is still our inevitable end.

So. What's the gist of this all?

Treasure your loved ones now: your family, your relatives, your friends.
And never take them for granted.
Never let Death be the one to make you realise the value of what you have just lost.

LeVaire :: 11:50 PM